What you want and what your customers want are often very different things. Many small businesses spend time in developing new products and services without devoting sufficient attention to researching their target markets. There are a number of high profile cases such as the Vauxhall/Opel car company being unable to make an impact in Spain with their ‘Nova’ model, because ‘no va’ loosely translated into Spanish implies that the car ‘don’t go’. There are many other such examples.
If you are developing new ideas, new products, or new services and you know which markets you want to target, then it is very important to set aside some resource for researching whether or not your offer is compatible with the needs of your potential customers in that market. Take a look at what your competitiors do and always assume that you are going to meet stiff competition, either directly or generically.
